And/Or...

Free-limbed, unencumbered, Julie accelerated, red hair bouncing, cowboy boots flying high, her bare milky skin shimmering in the brilliant desert sun.

Flynn was at her side and she matched him stride for stride. What a glorious way to die! she thought joyously. "I'm Juliet McNeill! And I love you, Flynn Montague," she proclaimed aloud.

Flynn began to shout, "Julie..."

But...

The world exploded into a red-black white-hot vortex, a mad and blinding churn of hellish sound and light flung together with the silence and dark of purgatory.

Juliet McNeill lay flat on her back staring into a sky colored a blue she didn't recognize. The color was deep and thick, like it was an autonomous substance, like blue possessed its own mass and weight. And she could see the stars! Stars in daylight?

She closed her eyes, raised weightless arms and rubbed her eyelids, opened them. Still there: all the familiar constellations, more distinct than Julie had ever seen. Far more distinct than when she'd gazed upon them the night she and Flynn had made love at the oasis.

"Flynn?" Julie murmured. She rolled onto her hip. There he was, a cluster of purple Globe Amaranth plants between them. Julie knew the flower held some symbolism. Death? No! She called out loudly, "Flynn!"

He was mere yards away, face-down in the sand. Flynn stirred. He raised himself onto hands and knees. He said, "Julie?" He shook his head and looked her way. "Julie, are you okay? Are you wounded?" He was at her side in an instant.

Flynn took her hands in his, spread her arms, gave her a cursory once-over. He raised her hands to his face and kissed her fingers, jammed them onto his cheek. He said, "Jeezus H. Christ, Julie, I thought you were dead. I thought I was dead."

"I know. What happened?"

He let go her hands and took her into a desperate embrace. He spoke into her hair, "I have no friggin' idea. I just thank God and dumb-ass luck we both survived somehow." He took her shoulders and held her at arms-length, studied her face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Julie performed her own once-over. She said, "Yeah, I think so. Except, I feel kinda funny. Sort of... different. Everything looks different, so vivid. My memory's not vivid, though; it's all weird and fuzzy."

"I know what you mean, me too. Maybe it's shock or something. Those bloody Cobras, eh.

"Hey!" Flynn rotated in all four directions, scouring the skies. "Where the hell did they go?"

"Flynn, look. Kurtz's Humvee. It's gone as well."

They rose to their feet. Flynn took hold of Julie's hand and they hurried to where the overturned Humvee should have been. They found nothing but a shallow depression. Flynn knelt to a knee and swished aside the sand. He succeeded in uncovering more sand. He stopped, looked up at Julie, puzzled.

"That's where it was," Julie said, "I'm certain." Head down, she circled three paces, thinking.

"Yeah, me too." Flynn massaged his forehead and then he stood erect, sighted to the east, toward the wadi. He said, "And check it out. The other BlackSky Humvees have also disappeared. What the hell?"

Julie and Flynn stood silent, staring at one another, each trying to properly align the sequence of events.

Flynn said, "You're familiar with the term, flummoxed?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I am: flummoxed. Everything seems completely effed-up."

"Oh my God, Flynn. What about Jiddah, and Samhal, and Saddiq? Do you think they're all right?"

They turned and looked toward the mountain pass. There was no sign of anyone or anything.

Flynn said, "We should at least be able to spot our Humvee. I don't see anything at all. And I'll tell you what, Julie, if anything was there I'd see it; Christ, I feel as though I've got HiDef vision. Anyway, don't worry, I'm sure they're safe and sound in the box canyon, waiting for us."

"Let's go then," Julie said, "I want to make sure." That weird feeling was becoming increasingly creepier. She was anxious to see Jiddah, get things back on level ground.

"Julie. Hold on a sec."

"What?"

Flynn took hold of Julie's hands, fastened her with solemn eyes. He said, "I don't know what's going on here, we'll find out. But before anything else, I've got something I must say to you."

"What is it, Flynn?" Julie was worried. The expression on Flynn's face was not one to which she was accustomed.

"Did I hear you correctly? What you said moments before the choppers opened up on us? Or was it my imagination?"

"If you heard, 'I love you Flynn Montague', then it wasn't your imagination. And I did not say it because I was about to die. I said it because it's the truth. I do love you."

Flynn said, "I love you. I've never said those words, Julie. I never knew what they meant. But I do now. And I say them to you knowing I've never been more certain of anything in my entire life. If you'll have me, I'll live for nothing but to keep on loving you, and become worthy of your love."

Julie's heart rate had throttled-up to hummingbird level. She said, "Oh yes, Flynn, yes! That's what I want also." She wrapped her arms round his neck and squeezed her face under his jaw. She felt the circle of Flynn's strong arms pull her in yet closer, she was on tip-toes. She and Flynn swayed gently together. After a minute or two Julie said, "And, um, about the future... Do you remember what you said at the oasis? About us... being together?"

Flynn tilted his head back to scrutinize her. Then he spoke eagerly but earnestly, "Yes I do. And I know it can work, Julie. We'll make it work. I'll help you revive your wormwood venture. I'll... I'll pick poppies, sweep land mines at a penny a pop... anything, as long as it's you and me."

"No, Flynn. It's you and me, and the Oasis. I want to go with you."

"What?" He looked at her as though she'd sprouted an extra eyeball. "I thought you were talking about a future together, Julie." He let go her hand, clearly underwhelmed. "But yeah, whatever, we can go to the oasis again. Only, frig, I had grander aspirations in mind for us than another round of sex-on-the-beach."

"Huh? Ohh. Not the oasis; your Oasis, silly. We've done the cowboy thing and the soldier thing. Why not pirates? I want to sail the Big Blue with you. If you'll have me along."

Flynn seized her shoulders, ecstatic. "Are you kidding me? Yes! Sammy and Jiddah, you and me. I promise, it'll be brilliant!" He stopped, searched her eyes. "But, can you leave Afghanistan, your project?"

Julie shook her head slowly. She said, "Flynn, we don't belong here, not now. We're khariji. Maybe someday, when things become more stable we can help, if they'll have us. But for now, I believe the best we can do for Afghanistan, and us, is leave."

Flynn snatched her into his arms again, kissed her freckled lip longingly. He breathed into her ear, "Oh, Cherie, my angel; I couldn't be happier if I were in Heaven."

They rambled, hand-in-hand, across the flat-lands toward the mountain pass.

Halfway there, Flynn stopped dead. He gave Julie an odd look and then a hasty top-to-bottom inspection. She was wearing his spare BlackSky uniform. The camo pants were cinched tight round her waist; the bottom of the black T-shirt was tied in a knot.

Julie said, "What, Flynn? What is it?"

"Okay. Whoa. I'm sorry, but I'm suffering a terminal case of déjà vu here."

"What do you mean?"

"This outfit, my uniform," he pointed at her with both hands, "when did you put it on, Julie?"

Julie juked-in her chin, frowned in thought. She peered down incredulously and fingered the knot in her tee.

Flynn said, "Was I dreaming? Or weren't you bare-ass-naked just before the Cobra attack? Hadn't you tossed your niqab and abaya?"

"Um, if it was a dream, it was mine as well. When the heck did I get these clothes?" A lurch of eerie dread shivered through Julie. She said, "I'm frightened, Flynn. I'm experiencing big-box déjà vu, also. And other stuff I can't explain. Please, let's go find Jiddah and Samhal."